


White Day Mission

by geri_chan



Category: Japanese Drama, 相棒 | Aibou | Partners (TV)
Genre: Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 05:39:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6691798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geri_chan/pseuds/geri_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai decides to investigate the reason behind Sugishita's popularity on Valentine's Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	White Day Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during and shortly after Episode 14 from Season 11.

_From Season 11, Episode 14 (Valentine Plan):_

_(Kai and Sugishita receive Valentine chocolates from Nakazono's daughter as thanks for investigating a case at her school.)_

_Chief Kakuta: I envy you guys. I got nothing from my wife or my daughter._

_Kai: I got some from my girlfriend._

_Kai and Kakuta: (in unison after eating some chocolate) These are good!_

_Kakuta: (to Sugishita): You should try some, too. I bet you didn't get any chocolate._

_Kai: Sugishita-san's house is filled with chocolate. Isn't that right?_

_Kakuta: Don't pull my leg._

*** 

Chief Kakuta thought he was joking, and Kai couldn't really blame him. He never would have believed it himself if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

Valentine's Day had started off with an order from Counselor Nakazono to investigate an online threat of a violent incident being planned at a certain middle school. It was most likely a hoax, but as Nakazono pointed out, the police were still required to investigate in case it turned out to be real. What was unusual was that the case had made it up to Nakazono's level rather than being handled by the local precinct, but the reason for his personal interest became clear when they found out that his daughter went to that school.

The Valentine's Day incident turned out to be a harmless prank, but while investigating, they had discovered a connection between the prankster and a seemingly unrelated murder. They had spent most of the day investigating and talking to witnesses before returning to headquarters. What happened next was even more puzzling than the official case, at least to Kai...

*** 

It started when they walked into the building and one of the young policewomen stationed at the reception desk called out, "Inspector Sugishita." As they walked over, she smiled and said, "I'm glad to see you; I thought you might have left for the day." She handed him a small black box tied with a gold ribbon, and added, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"And this is from me, too," said a second policewoman, handing him a small bag stenciled with the name "Choco La Vie" in elegant cursive script. 

"Thank you very much," Sugishita said politely. 

"Oh, and by the way," the first woman added, "Miyabe-san in Community Safety was looking for you."

As they headed over to the Community Safety office, Kai leaned over to take a closer look at Sugishita's gifts. "They're from Ricdor and Choco La Vie," he said, impressed. "Etsuko loves their chocolates--which are very expensive, by the way. But she says that they're worth it."

Sugishita nodded in agreement. "The owners of both Ricdor and Choco La Vie trained extensively in France before returning home to open their respective shops, and it shows in the quality of their chocolates."

"I had no idea that you were such a connoisseur, Sugishita-san," Kai said, amused.

At Community Safety, they were greeted by Miyabe Saori, a young policewoman that Kai remembered from a community event that they had been drafted into helping--one of the random menial tasks that were occasionally assigned to the Special Mission unit. She had been cheerful and friendly towards both of them, but he'd gotten the impression that she and Sugishita were only casual acquaintances. So he was startled when she presented Sugishita with a red cellophane package tied up neatly with a white ribbon.

"Happy Valentine's Day! These are some cookies I made; I hope you like them."

"I'm sure I will," Sugishita replied politely, accepting the package, and Kai was even more startled when two other women in the office also hurried over to give Sugishita Valentine's gifts.

"Ah...Kaito-kun, I may need some help with these."

However, before Kai could help Sugishita with his armload of chocolates, Miyabe helpfully produced an empty shopping bag. "Because you always have more chocolates than you can carry," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

As they headed back to their own office, Kai said, "Wow, I had no idea that you were so popular, Sugishita-san!"

"Well, I--" Sugishita started to reply, but was interrupted by a female detective who handed him a box of chocolates. They ran into several more women along the way who added to the growing collection of chocolate in the shopping bag.

When they passed by the Forensics lab, one of the female CSIs came out and furtively handed Sugishita yet another box of chocolates as she whispered, "Happy Valentine's Day, Inspector Sugishita."

"Why are we whispering?" Kai asked in a hushed voice.

The CSI gave him an annoyed look and whispered back, "Because I don't want Yonezawa-san to see this, or he'll start complaining again about how he never gets any Valentine's chocolate."

"So why not give him some pity chocolate?" Kai suggested.

"Because he might get carried away and get the wrong idea," the CSI snapped, and ducked back into the lab.

"Poor guy, he should at least get some duty chocolate," Kai said, while feeling a bit of smug certainty that he would be getting some chocolates from Etsuko. He didn't have a big sweet tooth, but it was nice to be appreciated, and no one ever wanted to be the guy who didn't get any chocolate on Valentine's Day. Although he usually hadn't done badly in that department, even during his schoolboy days.

"Maybe you should give him some, then," Sugishita said with such a straight face that Kai couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"You're the one with all the extra chocolate," Kai pointed out. "Maybe _you_ should share some of your bounty with him."

"I don't think he would appreciate it coming from me," Sugishita replied.

"Then he probably wouldn't appreciate me giving him Valentine's chocolate, either," Kai said.

"You're right," Sugishita conceded.

It was rare to win even a tongue-in-cheek argument with Sugishita, and Kai fell silent to savor the moment, though he was still curious about Sugishita's unexpected popularity.

For a change, Chief Kakuta wasn't in the Organized Crime office next door, which saved Kai the trouble of having to make coffee--or of listening to the Chief's complaints about him _not_ making coffee.

On the other hand, maybe the Chief could have given him some gossip about Sugishita's popularity with the ladies, something Kai had seen no evidence of until now. Was it possible for a guy to be popular only on Valentine's Day?

As he wrote up the report for the school incident, Kai continued to mull over that mystery, which in some ways was more intriguing than the actual murder case.

He thought they might receive more female visitors bearing chocolates, but the deluge of chocolate slowed to a trickle. A woman from the administrative section stopped by with some papers for Sugishita to sign, and used the opportunity to discreetly slip him a small box of chocolates beneath the clipboard. The detectives in the next room didn't even notice, and Kai might not have noticed himself if he hadn't been paying such close attention.

At the end of the day, they left the office and encountered a few more women hurrying over to give Sugishita last minute Valentine's gifts. Kai asked one detective why she hadn't just stopped by the Special Mission office earlier, and she sighed, "It's just that you have to walk through the Organized Crime section to get there, and Chief Kakuta is such a gossip..."

"Ah, I see," Kai said, grinning. "It would be all over Headquarters if the Chief found out."

"Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day," the detective said hastily, and hurried off. 

"I suppose it's not surprising that people don't want to be connected to Special Mission," Kai said. "But even so, you're surprisingly popular with the ladies. What's your secret?"

"I don't know," Sugishita replied, sighing heavily. "I used to just get a few chocolates occasionally from women that I'd helped out with a case or some other problem, but over the past few years, the amount has dramatically increased. To be honest, it's become something of a burden."

Kai laughed, staring at him incredulously. "Most guys would be happy to be so popular! I'm sure that Yonezawa-san would gladly trade places with you."

"If it were possible, I wouldn't mind trading places with him, either," Sugishita replied. "It's not that I don't enjoy some good chocolate from time to time, but you do realize that I'm expected to give White Day gifts to all these women."

He held up the shopping bag, which was now filled to overflowing with chocolates, and Kai laughed again.

"Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for being so popular!"

Sugishita gave him a withering look, and they continued on their way out of the MPD building, with Kai still chuckling to himself.

"I'm heading to Hana no Sato for dinner," Sugishita said. "Would you care to join me, or do you have plans with Etsuko-san tonight?"

Before Kai had a chance to reply, his old police academy classmate Oishi Mayumi came running up to them.

"Oh...good," she said, gasping for breath. "I was...running late...and thought I'd missed you."

"What's wrong?" Kai asked with concern, wondering what emergency could have sent her running over to Special Mission for help.

Oishi reached into her purse, then held out a small, gift-wrapped package to Sugishita with both hands. "Happy Valentine's Day!" she declared, blushing. "Um...this is just a small token to thank you for your help during that past case."

"You were the one who was helping us," Sugishita pointed out gently, but accepted the package anyway, as Kai stared in shock. "We should actually be thanking you."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Oishi said, still blushing. 

"But you were injured while helping us."

"That was due to my own carelessness--"

"Oishi!" Kai shouted, finally regaining his ability to speak. "Don't tell me that you've joined Sugishita-san's fan club, too!"

"Don't say weird things!" Oishi exclaimed, her face turning even redder. "It's just like I said, I wanted to thank Inspector Sugishita for his help."

 _Could Oishi really have a crush on Sugishita?_ Kai wondered. He was old enough to be her father, but maybe she liked older men. Come to think of it, he wasn't really sure what her type was, since back at the academy she had been earnestly focused on her work, sparing no time for romance or flirtations.

"Oh?" Kai teased. "If it's just duty chocolate, then shouldn't I get some too, since we all worked on the case together?"

"I figured that you have Etsuko-san to give you chocolate," Oishi replied. "But here, I guess you can have this." She rummaged in her purse and came up with a tiny square of Tirol chocolate, the kind you could buy at the convenience store for about 20 yen. 

"That's it?" Kai asked indignantly. "I'm just an afterthought?"

Oishi smiled pertly and said, "You shouldn't be begging for chocolate from other women when you already have a girlfriend. I'm sure Etsuko-san will get you something nice--as long as you've been nice to her." She bowed to Sugishita, then walked off, turning back once to say, "Don't forget me on White Day, Kaito!"

"You expect a return gift for _this_?" Kai shouted after her, waving the Tirol chocolate accusingly, but she just waved goodbye and kept walking.

*** 

Etsuko was waiting for him at home with a gift-wrapped box from Choco La Vie and a home-cooked meal. Normally he would have teased her that she was as impressed with the handsome young chocolatier as much as she was by the chocolates, but he was still distracted by Sugishita's surprising popularity. So he merely smiled and thanked her, and sat down to dinner.

As they ate, he was only half-paying attention to a story Etsuko was telling about work, until she finally asked him if something was wrong. 

"Did you have a difficult case today?" she asked, her expression wavering between concern and irritation. 

"Something a little unusual did come up," Kai said, explaining what had happened, and fortunately, Etsuko was amused rather than offended that he wasn't properly appreciating her Valentine's meal.

"Well, I can see how he might appeal to the type who likes older men," Etsuko mused. "But it's hard for me to think of him as a ladies' man, knowing how eccentric he is. And he's not exactly moving up the career ladder."

"The Special Mission unit is known as 'the graveyard of talent' where careers go to die," Kai agreed with a wry smile. "My own included. I do like Sugishita-san now that I've gotten to know him better, but I still don't understand why he's so popular with the women at the MPD."

"Then maybe it's a mystery that you should investigate," Etsuko laughed, then tapped Kai's plate with her fork to get his attention. "But enough about Sugishita-san already! I'm going to wonder if I'm losing _my_ appeal if you're more interested in your boss than me on Valentine's Day!"

Her complaint was still playful rather than angry, but Kai thought it would be wise to drop the subject for now. "I promise, you're much more appealing than Sugishita-san," he assured her, and leaned across the table to kiss her.

*** 

The murder case was solved, but Kai still couldn't stop thinking about the mystery behind Sugishita's popularity. Recalling Etsuko's joking suggestion, he decided to carry out a private investigation into the matter. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. As usual, they had no official assignments, and there were no cases that had caught Sugishita's interest.

So while Sugishita was playing chess remotely with an overseas acquaintance, Kai excused himself to drop off some paperwork at the administrative office and take an early lunch. Still focused on his game, Sugishita didn't even look up from the chessboard when Kai left.

On his way to the office, Kai called Oishi and arranged to meet her for lunch at the MPD cafeteria. Maybe she could help to explain Sugishita's appeal. In the meantime, he dropped off the paperwork, and recognizing the clerk as one of Sugishita's admirers, he asked her, "So why is Sugishita-san so popular on Valentine's Day?"

Some of the other people in the office looked over at them curiously, and the woman said nervously, "I wouldn't know. He probably gets some duty chocolate from people that he did favors for."

Miyabe at Community Safety was a bit more forthcoming. "Well, he does sort of have that English gentleman look and manner going for him," she giggled.

"I suppose," Kai said doubtfully. "So women like that kind of thing?"

"Some do," Miyabe replied. "And also..." She glanced around the office, seeming reluctant to go into more detail where others could overhear. "It's a bit complicated. Maybe I could explain it to you over lunch later?"

"If you don't mind company," Kai said, explaining that he was having lunch with Oishi.

"Oh, I know Mayumi-chan," Miyabe said. "It'll be fun to see her again. We used to work at the same station before I got transferred here."

He decided to kill some time before lunch by stopping at the Forensics lab. The same female CSI was there, but before he could even say anything, she scowled at him and said, "Don't even ask."

"Ask what?" Yonezawa said. "Did Inspector Sugishita want something?"

"Well, well," said a voice in a familiar sarcastic tone. "If it isn't Special Mission's Prince Kai."

"Hello, Detective Itami," Kai said politely, turning around to see the Division One detective glaring down at him. He had grown used to Itami's rudeness by now, which seemed to be directed more towards the Special Mission department as a matter of principle rather than him personally. Besides, he liked that Itami was one of the few people in the MPD who didn't try to curry favor with him because of whom his father was.

"Are you trying to interfere with our investigation again?" Itami demanded.

"Not at all," Kai replied, but Itami was still regarding him with suspicion.

"It's not the kind of case that would interest Inspector Sugishita, anyway," Serizawa said. "It's a completely open-and-shut case of a jealous wife killing her cheating husband."

"There's no need to share information with him!" Itami barked, slapping Serizawa on the back of the head. It was a frequent occurrence among the two detectives, and Serizawa shrugged it off, barely seeming to notice. 

"So why are you here?" Miura asked, with more politeness than Itami. He wasn't a sycophant, but it was clear that he never forgot Kai was the Deputy Commissioner's son. 

Kai smiled and said, "You might say I'm doing a little investigation of my own."

"Into what?" Serizawa asked.

"Into why Sugishita gets so many chocolates on Valentine's Day," Kai replied. "He's surprisingly popular, you know."

"He is?" Miura asked, sounding as skeptical as Chief Kakuta had. "I wouldn't have expected that."

Itami snorted derisively. "It must be nice to have so much free time to waste."

"You're just jealous that you didn't get any chocolate for Valentine's Day, Sempai," Serizawa said with a grin. Itami hit him again, this time hard enough to elicit a yelp of "Ow! Sempai, that hurt!"

"I got chocolates from my wife and daughter," Miura said, a bit wistfully. "Store-bought, though. When my daughter was a little girl, she used to make me homemade chocolates or cookies. Now she can't be bothered."

"At least she's still giving you chocolate," Serizawa consoled him. "I ran into Chief Kakuta yesterday, and he was complaining about how his wife and daughter didn't give him anything at all."

"Well, that's true," Miura agreed in a more cheerful voice while Itami stared at them both incredulously.

"Are we going to stand here talking about chocolate all day or are we going to close the case?" he demanded. Without waiting for a reply, Itami stormed into the Forensics lab shouting, "Yonezawa! Where are those test results?"

Kai felt slightly guilty about inflicting an angry Itami on Yonezawa, but figured that hanging around wasn't going to improve Itami's mood. So he nodded politely at Serizawa and Miura, then headed to the cafeteria.

*** 

Kai got there first, but didn't have to wait too long for the women to arrive.

"Saori-san! I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Detective Kai was asking me about the secret behind Inspector Sugishita's popularity."

"So you like older men, Oishi?" Kai asked, only half-jokingly. "I didn't think he was your type, but he is single, so I suppose he's fair game. Feel free to join us for drinks at Hana no Sato anytime."

"I told you to stop saying weird things!" Oishi snapped, her face turning red. "I just gave him chocolate because of the case we worked on. I don't like him that way."

Miyabe smiled knowingly. "She's not interested in the Inspector romantically, but it's not purely duty chocolate, either."

"Saori-san!" Oishi protested.

"Does this have something to do with the 'English gentleman' thing you mentioned earlier?" Kai asked Miyabe.

"Well, yes and no," she replied cryptically. "You know that Inspector Sugishita loves tea, right?"

"I know he drinks it all the time," Kai said. "It's kind of hard not to notice."

"But did you know that he only drinks tea of the highest quality?" Miyabe asked.

"I'll take your word for it," Kai replied.

"He served me a cup once when I had to take some paperwork to the Special Mission office," Miyabe said. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, a look of sheer bliss on her face. "He has the most _exquisite_ taste in tea."

Kai laughed. "You're a tea lover too, Miyabe-san?"

Miyabe opened her eyes and replied, "Not quite as fanatical as Inspector Sugishita, but yes. We got to talking about tea for awhile, long enough for him to pour me a second cup, and he offered me some sweets to go with my tea."

"I've never noticed him eating a lot of sweets, but he did seem pretty knowledgeable about a couple of the high-end chocolate shops that my girlfriend likes," Kai said.

"He always keeps a box of chocolate orange peels in the cupboard where he stores his tea," Miyabe said. "It seems to be a favorite of his, but he likes other kinds of sweets, too. And he's just as particular about the quality of his sweets as he is about his tea."

"So what does all this have to do with Sugishita-san's popularity?" Kai asked impatiently. "Are all his admirers tea fanatics?"

"Be patient, I'm getting there," Miyabe chided him. "A few of us in the department started giving him chocolate on Valentine's Day because he'd done us favors in the past. He always thanked us politely, of course, but we noticed that when he especially liked a particular one he would come by and thank us again and rhapsodize about the subtle bittersweetness of the dark chocolate, or the contrast between the tartness of the citrus filling and the sweetness of the chocolate coating or whatever. And then it started turning into a contest between us, to see who could find the most sublime chocolates for him. And of course there are his White Day gifts."

"White Day gifts?" Kai echoed.

"Yes, he always bakes the most delicious cookies for White Day. Last year it was Russian Tea Cakes, and the year before that it was shortbread that was wonderfully rich and buttery, and the year before that--"

"Wait a minute!" Kai interrupted. "You're trying to tell me that Sugishita-san makes home-baked cookies for White Day? I didn't even think he knew how to cook! He goes to Hana no Sato for dinner every night."

Miyabe shrugged. "I don't know what he does for dinner, but his White Day cookies are always freshly baked."

"Maybe he buys them from a bakery," Kai said, still unable to imagine Sugishita actually baking.

Miyabe looked annoyed, but didn't try to argue further. "Anyway, between the competition and the White Day gifts, more and more women at the MPD started giving Inspector Sugishita Valentine's chocolate. So now your mystery is solved."

"When Saori-san told me how delicious his cookies were, I got curious and wanted to see for myself," Oishi admitted.

"Ha, so it's not just out of obligation!" Kai said, and Oishi smiled sheepishly.

"So what did you get the Inspector, Mayumi-chan?" Miyabe asked.

"Sugared yuzu rinds dipped in dark chocolate," Oishi replied. "Since you said he likes those chocolate-dipped orange peels, I thought he might like those."

"Ooh, very clever!" Miyabe said. "A traditional spin on one of his favorite sweets."

"What did you get?" Oishi asked.

"I baked chocolate macaroons for him," Miyabe replied. 

"From scratch?" Oishi exclaimed, and Miyabe nodded. "Wow, you'll win for sure this year!"

"Well, we'll see," Miyabe said, smiling modestly, but she looked rather pleased with herself.

Kai just shook his head in bemusement and ate quietly while Oishi and Miyabe continued to talk about what the other policewomen had given Sugishita for Valentine's Day and what he might do for White Day.

"So are you satisfied, Kai?" Oishi asked when they had finished eating. "Now you know the secret behind Inspector Sugishita's popularity."

"No--in fact, I'm even more intrigued," Kai replied. "Now I have to find out whether Sugishita-san actually makes his own White Day cookies!"

"I already told you that he does, but suit yourself," Miyabe said.

*** 

On the day before White Day, Sugishita left the office early.

"Leaving already?" Kai asked. "Did you want to stop by Hana no Sato tonight?"

"Regretfully, I'll have to pass," Sugishita replied. "I have quite a few White Day gifts to prepare."

"Yeah, I have to go buy something for Etsuko, too," Kai said casually. "See you tomorrow."

He gave Sugishita a couple minutes' head start before following. Just as he was leaving, Chief Kakuta walked into the office to get some coffee. 

"It must be nice to have so much free time!" Kakuta called after him. 

"You seem to have plenty of free time to hang out in our office," Kai muttered under his breath, but the Chief either didn't hear or chose to ignore him. 

He didn't have a car of his own and couldn't commandeer a police car for an unofficial White Day investigation, so he called for a cab, which arrived just as Sugishita's car drove out of the MPD parking lot.

"Follow that car," Kai told the driver.

"Are you kidding me?" the driver asked.

"No, I'm not," Kai said, pulling out his police identification. "Please follow that car." He was careful not say that he was on official police business, but if the driver chose to assume that he was...well, technically Kai hadn't lied.

The driver's eyes widened, and he obeyed without further protest. "Wow, this is just like in the movies," he said excitedly. "Um...no one's going to be shooting at us, are they?"

"No, it's perfectly safe," Kai replied. "I'm just doing some surveillance."

"Oh, okay," the driver said, sounding a little disappointed.

They followed Sugishita to a grocery store, where he went in, presumably to do some shopping. Kai paid the driver, adding a little extra and saying, "Will you wait here a few minutes? I may need to continue following him."

"Sure, officer," the driver replied. "Anything to help the police. If you don't mind my asking, what has this guy done, anyway?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Kai said, and headed into the grocery store.

He spotted Sugishita browsing a few aisles away and followed cautiously, trying to keep enough distance between them so that he could keep an eye on Sugishita without being spotted. 

Peeking around a shelf, Kai saw Sugishita put bags of flour and sugar into his basket. Could it be that he really was baking cookies? Sugishita turned his head in Kai's direction, and Kai quickly ducked out of sight and pretended to be perusing shelves of instant ramen. 

When Sugishita didn't show up to confront him, Kai cautiously peered out of the aisle to see Sugishita heading towards the dairy section. Kai followed, being careful to keep a mother with a large baby stroller between him and Sugishita as camouflage. 

As Sugishita reached for a box of butter, he said without turning around, "You might as well come out, Kaito-kun."

"So you knew that I was following you?" Kai asked ruefully.

"Oh, was it supposed to be a secret?" Sugishita asked in mock surprise. "I noticed the taxi tailing me right after I left headquarters."

"You spotted me that soon?" Kai said in consternation.

"So why were you following me?" Sugishita asked.

"I wanted to see if it was true that you bake your own cookies for White Day," Kai replied.

"How ridiculous," Sugishita scoffed.

"So you don't bake cookies?" Kai asked.

"Of course I do," Sugishita replied, looking as if he were doubting Kai's detective skills, not to mention his intelligence. He held up his shopping basket, adding, "Or did you think it was purely coincidence that I was buying baking supplies?"

"But you said I was being ridiculous," Kai protested.

"I meant that it was ridiculous that you would actually investigate whether or not I bake cookies," Sugishita said. "But now that you're here, you might as well make yourself useful."

He handed the basket to Kai, who said, "Excuse me?"

"Since you're so curious, you can help me bake the cookies."

*** 

After dismissing the taxi driver, Kai went home with Sugishita. He'd been speaking figuratively earlier, but now he could literally say that Sugishita's house was filled with chocolates--or at least the pantry was.

"I've eaten some and given some away, but I still have quite a bit left," Sugishita said with a resigned sigh.

The house itself was small but cozy, and as one would expect of Sugishita, very neat and clean. From what Kai could see, the furniture was all Western-style, and would have not looked out of place in a BBC drama. 

However, there was no time to covertly snoop around any further, because Sugishita was handing him a starched white apron and saying, "Here, put this on and wash your hands."

Each new revelation left Kai more stunned than the last. "Wow, you really take your baking seriously, don't you?" he asked as Sugishita donned another apron--also neatly starched and pressed, of course.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing well, don't you think?" Sugishita replied. 

"Uh, yes, I suppose so," Kai said, although he thought Sugishita might be taking things to extremes. Then again, that was probably one of the reasons why Sugishita had the well-deserved reputation for being an eccentric genius.

Sugishita laid a printed sugar cookie recipe out on the counter for Kai's benefit, as it was clear that he already had the recipe memorized. Baking wasn't Kai's speciality, but he did cook dinner often for himself and Etsuko, and the recipe looked simple enough. 

Or so he thought. As he started to measure out the flour, he was scolded for simply using a measuring cup. It turned out that Sugishita carefully measured out ingredients on a kitchen scale by weight.

"Isn't this good enough?" Kai asked, holding up a plastic measuring cup.

"Oh, of course," Sugishita replied in the slightly mocking tone that he used when he was being sarcastic. "That is, if you also consider a cursory investigation to be 'good enough' when you're working a murder case."

"We're talking about sugar cookies," Kai pointed out." It's hardly a life and death matter."

"But you'll be giving these cookies to Etsuko to express your feelings towards her," Sugishita countered. "Do you suppose she'll be flattered to know that she is only worth a 'good enough' effort?"

"She gave me store-bought chocolates for Valentine's Day," Kai said dryly. "I wonder what that says about her feelings for me?" 

Etsuko would say that they were worth quite a lot, given how much she'd spent on the chocolates. He also thought that she wouldn't be able to detect the minor differences in flour and sugar measured by weight versus volume, but it was easier to go along with Sugishita than listen to an extended lecture.

Eventually the dough was mixed, under Sugishita's watchful and critical eye, then divided and flattened into thick discs. 

"We'll need to chill these for a couple of hours," Sugishita said, placing the dough in the refrigerator. "In the meantime, we can clean up and eat dinner. There are some delivery menus in that drawer, if you want to order something."

"You obviously can cook, so why do you always eat out?" Kai asked curiously, wiping down the counter as Sugishita began washing the bowls and utensils they had used.

"I've discovered that I work best when I keep to a set routine," Sugishita replied. "And dinner at Hana no Sato is part of that routine. There was a time when the restaurant shut down before Sachiko-san took it over, and I must admit that it had a negative effect on my investigative skills." 

"I see," Kai said, although he didn't really. Maybe he couldn't understand the way that the mind of a genius worked, not being one himself. 

But he did understand cooking, so he smiled and said, "In exchange for the baking lesson, why don't you let me cook dinner for you? That is, if it won't throw you off your routine."

"I appreciate the offer, Kaito-kun, but as I don't do much cooking, I don't have many ingredients on hand."

"Well, we have some eggs and butter left over," Kai said. "Can I see what else you have on hand? Maybe I could at least put together an omelette."

"Help yourself," Sugishita said, looking mildly intrigued as he motioned towards the refrigerator and cupboards. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with."

As it turned out, there was some cheese and bacon in the fridge, and a package of spaghetti in the cupboard. Combined with the eggs and butter, Kai was able to whip up a batch of carbonara.

"This is delicious, Kaito-kun," Sugishita said, sounding a little surprised. "You're a very good cook."

"You don't have to sound so shocked," Kai grumbled, but secretly he was pleased to have impressed his very hard-to-impress boss. Even if it was with his cooking rather than his investigative skills. 

"It was meant to be a compliment," Sugishita said with a smile.

After dinner, they went back to making the cookies. Under Sugishita's watchful eye, Kai rolled out his batch of dough until it was precisely a quarter of an inch thick--he almost expected Sugishita to break out a ruler and measure it. Naturally, Sugishita rolled out his own dough expertly on the first try without any need for corrections. Then they cut out the cookies with flower, star, and heart-shaped cutters, placing them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Kai thought they were ready to put into the oven, but Sugishita said they still needed one more final touch and sprinkled the cookies with a light dusting of either pink or green sugar.

"Spring colors," he explained as Kai stared at him in disbelief .

"Even if I told them about this, Itami and the others would never believe me," Kai muttered, shaking his head.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It was nothing."

Sugishita kept him busy while the cookies were baking, gathering the leftover scraps of dough together and re-rolling them out to make more cookies. But eventually all the cookies were baked and set out to cool on wire racks. They looked good enough to have been purchased from a professional bakery, and the sweet aroma of fresh-baked cookies made Kai's mouth water.

He started to reach for one, but Sugishita slapped his hand away, saying sternly, "Those are for the White Day gifts. You've already had your Valentine treats."

"Seriously?" Kai complained. "I did all that work baking the cookies and I don't get to eat any?"

"Aren't you here because you were investigating my personal life?" Sugishita retorted. "Consider it part of your detective training."

"Aw, come on, just one cookie?" Kai wheedled.

Sugishita sighed and said, "I suppose you can have the scraps, since I can't give those away." There had been a few scraps of dough left at the end, not to enough to roll out, so Sugishita had just baked them along with with the last batch of cookies. 

Kai almost grumbled about being thrown a few measly scraps like a stray dog, but decided that it was better than getting nothing at all. Besides, even if they didn't look as pretty, the scraps were essentially the same as the cut-out cookies and he really wanted to know if they tasted as good as they smelled.

He picked up one of the odd-shaped scraps and popped it into his mouth. It was crisp and buttery and sweet, and the sugar sprinkles added a slight extra crunch that was pleasant on his tongue. 

"Wow, this really is amazing!" he exclaimed. "Now I understand why all the women at headquarters want to get White Day gifts from you." He grinned and added, "Maybe I'll start giving you chocolate on Valentine's Day next year."

"Please don't," Sugishita replied. "I already have too much chocolate as it is, and my White Day baking is enough of a chore without you adding to it."

"Then maybe I can help you with the baking again next year," Kai said. "In exchange for a few cookies, that is."

"I will take that under consideration," Sugishita said solemnly, as if he were seriously thinking about it. Kai didn't know whether he was joking or not, but Kai was definitely serious about the offer. He quickly ate another scrap cookie before Sugishita changed his mind about sharing.

*** 

The next evening, Kai presented Etsuko with a small white box wrapped up with a white ribbon tied up in a perfect bow--by Sugishita, who had taken one look at Kai's attempt and shook his head in disapproval before re-doing it himself. As for Sugishita, he had already delivered what seemed like dozens of identical boxes to the women of the MPD.

 _It's a lot of work being popular,_ Kai thought. Fortunately, Etsuko was the only one he had to get a White Day gift for. Well, except for Oishi--as a joke, he had given her a single cookie as a return gift for the one tiny chocolate she'd given him. 

"Oh Tooru, these are beautiful!" Etsuko exclaimed. She bit into one and added, "And they're delicious, too. Where did you get them from? I don't see a name or logo on the box."

"They're not from a bakery," Kai said, grinning proudly. "I made them myself."

"Really?!"

"Well, with a little help from Sugishita-san."

"What?"

So Kai explained about how he had followed Sugishita and ended up baking cookies with him. "Actually, this all happened because of what you said," he told Etsuko.

"What did I say?" she asked, puzzled.

"You told me that I should investigate the mystery behind Sugishita-san's popularity."

"I'd forgotten all about that," Etsuko laughed. "But since it resulted in these cookies, I'm glad that I did. By the way, you do realize that now you're going to have to do this again next year?"

She happily ate another cookie, and Kai said with mock regret, "I've raised the bar too high. I'm beginning to see how Sugishita-san got trapped into baking for White Day every year."

"But I'm worth it, right?" Etsuko asked playfully.

"Are you?" Kai asked, and she elbowed him in the side. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, then laughed and pulled her into his arms. "Just kidding, of course you're worth it."

"I'll forgive you in exchange for more cookies."

*** 

"You're alone tonight?" Sachiko asked as Sugishita walked into Hana no Sato.

"Kaito-kun had plans with Etsuko-san," Sugishita replied.

"Of course, it's White Day," Sachiko said, smiling at Sugishita hopefully.

"Which reminds me, here is your White Day gift," Sugishita said, handing her a gift-wrapped box.

"Thank you, I was really looking forward to this!" Sachiko said. "I'm tempted to eat these right now, but since I'm working, I guess I should serve you your dinner first."

"I would appreciate that," Sugishita said.

A little later, he noticed Sachiko smiling at him as she watched him eat, and he asked, "Does something amuse you?"

"No, I was just thinking that I'm glad you found another partner," Sachiko replied. "You seemed lonely after Kanbe-san left."

"I wouldn't say that I was lonely," Sugishita objected. 

"Well, it seems to me that you work better with a partner," Sachiko said.

"That depends on whom the partner is."

Sachiko giggled. "Yes, that's true. Just think, you could have ended up with Jinkawa-san as your partner!"

"Heaven forbid," Sugishita said, smiling to make it seem like a joke though he was actually serious. Jinkawa meant well and he'd brought a few interesting cases to Special Mission over the years, but he was a much better accountant than he was a detective.

"But you've found a good partner in Kaito-san?" Sachiko asked.

"Yes," Sugishita replied. "He still needs to gain more experience, but I think that he'll develop into a fine detective...and perhaps a baker as well."

"A baker?" Sachiko asked, puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, it's just a little inside joke," Sugishita replied.

Sachiko shook her head as she refilled his cup of sake. "Sometimes you say the strangest things, Sugishita-san."

Sugishita said nothing, but just smiled in secret amusement.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by a conversation with another Aibou fan on a fandom meme. They suggested that "there could be a competition for everyone to find the most sublime chocolates" and that "he really should bake his own cookies for White Day: always perfect, and he wears a starched apron in the kitchen". So thank you, nonnie, for your suggestions! I had a lot of fun imagining Sugishita baking cookies in a starched apron. ^_^ 
> 
> Here are some rambling notes about the writing process (feel free to skip):
> 
> Sugishita's Valentine admirers are all OCs except for Oishi, as we don't get to see many policewomen in the show aside from extras and a few guest characters. Though I would love to see Itami and Serizawa get a female partner! 
> 
> The chocolate shops Ricdor and Choco La Vie are from the drama Shitsuren Chocolatier, another small fandom that I would love to see more fic for. Since I wanted Sugishita to be gifted with some expensive chocolate, I thought I might as well take a little inspiration from Shitsuren instead of making something up. (Maybe someday Sugishita and Kai could investigate a murder at a chocolate shop?)
> 
> OTOH, the chocolate orange peels are canonical. They appear in Season 7, Episode 13 when Sugishita gives some to a young boy who claims to have psychic powers and appears to have predicted a crime before it happened.
> 
> The chocolate-covered yuzu rinds aren't canonical, but I've had some and they were very delicious! 
> 
> I don't recall ever seeing Sugishita's home in canon--at least during Seasons 1-11, which is as far as I've watched. So I made up my best guess as to what kind of place he'd live in, although maybe someday we'll find out that he lives in a condo, or that he owns a huge mansion. (I've always gotten the impression that he's independently wealthy or at least reasonably well off, though it's never been explicitly confirmed.) 
> 
> It's mentioned in canon that Miura has a wife, though I don't think it's ever stated whether or not he has children. But for some reason, it's been my headcanon that he has an adult daughter. 
> 
> I didn't have a chance to work Kanbe into the fic, but I'm sure he's quite popular on Valentine's Day, and it's my headcanon that he has a notebook where he keeps a list of the women who give him chocolate (and what kind of chocolate they gave him) so that he can keep track of his many admirers and buy them appropriate gifts for White Day. I think his pride would be a little hurt that Sugishita is more popular than he is on Valentine's Day, but once he got over the shock, he'd be very amused.
> 
> I doubt that Itami gets any Valentine's chocolate, but I would totally give him some if I could!


End file.
